Kissing Disease (What is Kissing Disease (EBV) and How Is It Treated?

What is kissing disease (infectious mononucleosis)? What are the symptoms of kissing sickness? How to treat kissing disease in babies? Is it contagious? All the details you are wondering about are in our article!

What is the kissing disease?

Kissing disease, also called infectious mononucleosis or glandular fever; It is a disease caused by the virus called “ebstein barr (ebv)”, which is called the kiss virus among the people, which starts similar to the flu.

Kissing disease, which produces rubella-like rashes, is seen in infants and children, but mostly affects young adults. It is one of the diseases transmitted by kissing.

What are the symptoms of kissing sickness?

The first symptoms of kissing sickness are similar to an ordinary upper respiratory tract infection. The main symptoms are;

• Weakness,
• Sore throat,
• fire ,
• Swelling in the lymph nodes in the neck and armpits,
• enlargement of the spleen
• Rarely, enlargement of the liver,
• Inflammation of white color on the tonsil,
• Edema on the face and lips,
• It is a rash on the body.

How is kissing disease diagnosed?

• The symptoms of kissing disease can be confused with a throat infection due to Beta microbe. Throat culture should be taken in order to diagnose the disease correctly.
• Although rare, the disease; It can cause serious conditions such as jaundice, joint inflammation, anemia, hepatitis, meningitis, rupture of the spleen, kidney and heart failure.
• The most definitive diagnosis in kissing disease is made by measuring antibodies against this virus in blood tests. If the glandular fever is positive, the child should rest at home.

Children diagnosed with kissing disease should be kept away from school for at least 15 days. Since kissing disease in children can cause swelling of the spleen, the child should stay away from sports activities until everything returns to normal.

How is kissing disease transmitted?

• The virus, which multiplies in the mouth and throat secretions of those who have kissing disease, can be passed to other people through kissing. For this reason, it is necessary to be careful about those who have kissing disease.
• Transmission can also occur through blood and blood products.
• Rarely, it can be transmitted from objects such as forks, spoons and glasses containing the saliva of the person who has the disease.
• Kissing disease in babies is mostly caused by frequent kissing by adults. You should be extra careful, remembering that this is one of the diseases transmitted through kissing.

How is kissing disease treated?

You may wonder how the kissing disease goes away. Since the disease is caused by a virus, antibiotic treatment does not show any effect. There is no herbal treatment for kissing disease. In this process, antipyretic drugs are used and bed rest is recommended.

What should you pay attention to in the treatment of kissing disease?

• You should not send your child to school unless your doctor gives permission.
• If your child says he wants to stay in bed, you can let him. If he doesn’t want to stay in bed, you should at least make sure he stays at home until the fever passes.
• In cases of fever, you should help him drink plenty of fluids.

How long does the kissing sickness last?

High fever of those who have kissing disease may continue for 7-8 days. The disease usually goes away on its own within a month.

Does the kissing disease recur?

After the first attack, the disease may reappear within two years. Therefore, if you experience the same symptoms, you should be careful and do not neglect to go to the doctor.